Nethra Ganesan

Nethra Ganesan is an architect, maker and spatial practitioner. She holds a MArch+AA Diploma from the Architectural Association School of Architecture, UK. She is currently an Architect and Exhibition Designer at the Sharjah Art Foundation, where she is working on the adaptive reuse of former telecommunications and school buildings from the 1970s, while exploring sustainable production methods for exhibition design.

Ganesan’s practice is rooted in processes of making shaped by community, craftsmanship, and customary knowledge. These interests came together through her work with the Nonurban Foundation, a non-profit organisation in India where she served as a director. The organisation worked with non-urban communities engaged in customary practices including farming, weaving and stone sculpture, supporting the development of sustainable, equitable, inclusive and thriving businesses in rural communities. 

Now based in the UAE, Ganesan is turning her attention to the materials and building systems found in and around the local landscape. She is exploring how these resources can be recontextualised and developed into viable options for larger-scale sustainable making. She is particularly interested in connecting makers, users, and designers through modular frameworks — creating ways to test, develop, and propagate these new material fabrications.